How long to feel ok after new dentures?

Just a quick question. I wil be getting an upper denture in June. My B-in-law is getting married 8 days after that, and I certainly want to be at the wedding! I'll be okay to go, won't I?

Do people often have a swollen face after the extractions? and how long would that usually last for? I guess I worry about being totally swollen and black and blue for days... Pls. tell me that won't be so.

And I noticed that some people mention having difficulty speaking. Is that just the odd word? Is it like a lisp. or? Is the problem with 's' words, or 'th' words?

Hi...
Well, I can only tell you about my experience with my upper, which I had done 1 week prior to my lowers.
For me, the uppers were amazingly easy to adjust to. The first 48 hours were the hardest. I had a real hard time getting used to the 'plastic feeling' in my mouth. My lips got extremely dry so I had to keep chapstik on them. My extractions were on a Tuesday, and by Saturday, I was actually eating a hot dog, albeit very slowly and it was cut into baby pieces, but I did it! I had a few sore spots, which is to be expected, so I went for a few adjustments.
I think the hardest part was learning to feel the food with my tongue. I did have some speech problems at first, but, after the first 4-5 days, it did get easier. Mostly lispy and muffled for a few days. It felt like I had a football mouthguard in my mouth when I talked. Oh, and I had so much extra saliva, I drooled at night...which was actually pretty funny. I just put a towel over my pillow and slept that way for a while.
I had no visible swelling on the top...at least not on the outside. I even had an impacted wisdom tooth, so I think I got lucky. No bruising and literally no pain that Tylenol couldn't handle.
Try to take it easy the day after your surgery if you can. Don't chase kids around if you have them, get someone to help you if that's possible. Alot of movement after your surgery can promote swelling/bleeding, so try to stay as restful as possible.
You should be fine for the wedding. Everyone is different though, so if you do have swelling, use ice packs, and rest, rest, rest.
Your denture may get very loose within that first week. Mine did, and they told me I could use adhesive if needed. I do almost every day now (until my first soft reline), and it helps a great deal. It will get frustrating at times, but, try to stay positive and remember that humor is the best remedy for frustration.
Good luck with your new smile....I know I am thrilled with mine! (although my lowers are giving me a hard time, but that too, shall pass)

Best wishes,
scaredstiff70
PS: using a saltwater rinse is suggested also. It helps to cleanse and soothe your gums. I used it 3 times a day for the first 2 weeks once I was given the ok to take the denture out. It felt fantastic!

First of all, congratulations on making the appointment. It's a big decision and a big step.

My first days after extractions were very similar to Scaredstiff's and that seems to be "average" In all fairness to you I have to say that what you experience might be different. How it all goes depends on you (peoples systems react differently to pain and trauma) and your dentist (no two dentists practice the same treatment the same way). If your procedure goes more or less normally, you should be able to attend the wedding and have some fun. However, I wouldn't set your expectations for singing and dining too high

Having said that, if your extractions go normally your face sholdn't be swollen or black 'n blue. Any swelling should be restricted to your gums and the immediate denture should help with that as well. Hopefully, after 8 days, any swelling of your gums will be gone, they will have started to shrink and the dentures will be starting to get loose. If you need to use glue do your best to keep the glue out of the extraction sites. Fortunately, the glue can be put on the palatte of an upper denture. You may experience pain from the extractions for a few days but after a week it should be gone unless there was some kind of complication.

When it comes to speaking with dentures, different people have different problems with different letters. "S" is the most common letter to have problems with but other letters that rely on the tongue interacting with the roof of the mouth or teeth could be a problem too. Just for fun, recite the alphabet and pay attention to how you form the letters. The easiest way to overcome pronunciation problems is to practice by reading aloud. After almost 6 months I still can't quite get the hang of S's. Fortunately, everybody thinks the way I say them now is the normal way for me to say it. Time works wonders

I hope this helps to ease some of your concerns. Oh ya, one last thing. If you can't eat or speak well at the wedding at least you'll be able to flash a big beautiful smile!!

Scaredstiff - Wow....you had the lowers done only a week after the uppers? yikes!

I've never really considered having to think about feeling the food in my mouth. hmmmm Strange thought. Nope - that never dawned on me. I would have thought that the tongue would totally provide that sensation but I guess not... So that means that even when you have a mouthful of food, you don't really feel it on the roof of your mouth? Weird.

Mind if I ask what made you decide on getting dentures? I'm so happy that I only need to get uppers (at least for now).

YOS - Thank you for your reply. I was reading another thread on this board and I couldn't believe how helpful you were. That's wonderful to see. I think that so often, the only people that return to a messageboard (after having a procedure done) are the ones that have had horrible results.....I think that usually when things go well for someone, they wouldn't take the time to return to a board and ease other people's concerns and answer questions. That's terrific!

I'm hoping that I won't experience alot of pain. The oral surgeon that is doing my extractions pulled a wisdom tooth for me a couple months ago and I was surprised that it went so smoothly. I don't even think I needed to take an aspirin afterwards. I was very surprised, because I'd heard so many horror stories about people and wisdom teeth. Hopefully these extractions will also go well.